Everything Happens For a Reason
by SunSplash
Summary: CHAPTER 5 IS UP! Allie & Draco have their first civil conversation...will it lead to something? R&R!
1. Ch 1&2 The Beginning

Chapter One.  
  
"Here we are!" my mother said in a sing song voice as we arrived in front of a modern day mansion. She turned her bright hazel eyes to me, "Well? What do you think, Allison? Isn't it wonderful?" she gushed, looking around at the shrubbery.   
  
I really didn't want to spoil her moment, so I looked at my father instead. I knew he didn't want to move from New York, just like I didn't, so I hoped he would say what I wanted to scream at my mom. To my disappointment, he looked just as happy as Mom was. I wanted to yell at them and tell both of them that I would do anything to go back to NYC, to go back to my school, to go back to my friends,....to go back to Trent....  
  
NO. You can't think about him. It'll just make you more homesick, you know it. I told myself that same thought over and over again, from the moment I got on the plane to come here. I felt guilty, like I abandoned him. And abaondon him you did... an evil voice said from somewhere deep in the back of my head.   
  
But he wouldn't understand....I don't even understand, so how could he? I tried to justify my actions of not telling Trent where I was going or for how long I would be gone for. I simply told him that my parents wanted to travel Europe for a while and that I had to go along with them. Which was true in some sense. I was going to Europe...but not for traveling. This "trip" had a bigger meaning. And Trent would never understand that.  
  
I still felt guilty, but somewhat releived that I had convinced myself that what I had done wasn't all bad. I turned my attention back to my parents. They were lifting things in the air and instructing them where to fly to in the house with their wands. Too bad I couldn't join in. I would have been able to at home, but the British had different rules for their underage witches and wizards, so I wasn't allowed. Instead, I had to manually pick up some of my stuff and carry it to my room.   
  
It was easy to tell which was my room. My parents already made glittery lines of powdery dust-like stuff that led to different rooms. A different color for every room. Furniture marked with the same color wizzed into its matching room, landing perfectly unharmed. I immidiately followed the silvery blue line since it was the only one of my favorite colors out of all the other glittery lines. The others were all hot pink and bright oranges, you know, the really bright colors that sometimes came off as tacky. "My color" stood out from all of that.  
  
Ducking a cream colored leather couch and matching futon, I walked up the staricase. As much as I wanted to hate this house (since it wasn't the 16 room urban penthouse I grew up in), I had to admit to myself, it had style. From the outside it reminded me of a postcard. From the inside, it reminded me of those perfect houses you see in movies.  
  
I reached the second story of the 3 story mansion and followed my line to the last door at end of the sunlit hallway. The room I walked into was more than perfect. It had huge walk in closets, its own gigantic bathroom, and (best of all) a balcony! I always wanted a room with a balcony, but New York balconies were nothing compared to this one. I stepped out into the golden sunlight, to overlook my view. It was spectacular. For as far as I could see, all I saw were rolling green hills, trees, and even a sparkling creek behind one of the tall oak trees. With a view like this, I could learn to like this place, after all.  
  
I was disrupted by a loud BANG. It turned out to be my bed. It just flew in and started assembling itself in from of me. I turned back to the balcony. After a few more minutes, I was disrupted again.  
  
"Beautiful, isn't it, honey?" I heard my mother say from behind me.  
  
"Yes, it is."  
  
"Good. I knew you'd like it." she sat on the bed. "Look Allie, I know you didn't want to move. None of us did. But we had to, you know it. We're needed here on the Order and we have new jobs at the Ministry. You, have a bigger jo-..." she cought herself in midsentance.  
  
"What were you saying, Mom?" I inquired. Was she trying to keep something from me?  
  
"I was just saying..." she said slowly, looking for the right words. Oh yes, she was definately keeping something from me. Right now, I didn't feel like interrogating her, so I made a mental note to do that later. "I was just saying that I can understand how hard it is for you to move. It's hard on me and your father, so I imagine it's twice as difficult for you." she paused, apprently waiting for me to say something. I didn't, and she moved on. "Honey, I'm sure you'll make new friends here. And the school is just like Tavington...except it's sort of like a boarding school."  
  
Again, I think she expected me to protest or something, but I didn't. There was no point in it. Britain only had one wizarding school, and I knew there was no way that my parents would send me back to Tavington in New York, so why bother agruing? I just looked at her and said, "Yeah. It can't be that bad, I guess..." and turned back to the green hills.  
  
I heard my mother sigh. "Allie..."  
  
"What?" I said harsher than I meant to. I looked back at my mom. "Sorry Mom, I didn't mean to. I'm just kind of ....upset about things."  
  
"I'm sorry, honey. It's because of all this you have to leave your friends and boyfriend behind..." she looked like she suddenly realized something. "You didn't tell Trent about this whole thing, I hope?"  
  
"No, I just said that we're gonna travel Europe for a while."  
  
"Oh...alright. I was just worried since he's....you know..."  
  
"A Muggle. I know, Mom. Beleive me, I didn't tell him anything."   
  
"Good....I'll leave you to your unpacking, then..." she turned to go. "Oh and Allie?"  
  
"Uh huh?" I was starting to make my bed. Unfortunately, it didn't do anything except assemble itself.  
  
"Tomorrow, we're going to meet with the headmaster of Hogwarts."  
  
"Is that the name of the boarding school?"  
  
"Yes."  
  
"God, what and ugly name. Hope it's better than it sounds."  
  
My mother smiled, "I know. So do I."  
  
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*  
  
  
  
I woke up at 6, the next morning. Cursing the time change, I took a shower and began to carefully choose my outfit. As a Manhattan socialite, from the time I was 5, certain rules were drummed into my head. One of them being, always look your best. And if it's an important meeting of some sort, that goes double. So from 6 to 7, I tried on various outfits.   
  
Dispite the sunny weather the day before, today it was raining cats and dogs. I hoped it wouldn't keep up, rain did hell to my hair. Rain or no rain, this was a "meeting" so by my family's rules, I had to wear a skirt. I decided on a tan suede one and paired it with a white, button down 3/4 sleaved shirt, and matching suede knee high boots. As I was pulling my long, straight, dark brown hair into a pony tail, I heard my mom yell for me to come down and eat.   
  
While I was chewnig my Pop-tarts, my parents decided to share another little peice of information with me.   
  
"After the meeting with the Headmaster, we're going to take you to meet the rest of the members of the Order." my father informed me. Good. Maybe there would be people my own age...?   
  
"And then, we're all going to go shopping at Diagon Alley, together." my mother added. YES! I really liked this.  
  
"That's the best thing I've heard you say in the past 48 hours, Mom." I told her, smiling.  
  
"Good... You finally sound like yourself again. Glad to know my daughter has returned form her 2 day depression!" my father got up," So, I guess we should go. We have to be there at...what is it again, Lucy?"  
  
"8:45" my mother replied, holding her mug out to the coffee pot which began filling it up.  
  
"Right, 8:45. And it's already 8:10."  
  
So with that, I left my new "home" to meet a bunch of people, who I had a feeling would have a big impact on my life.  
  
Chapter 2  
  
Harry sat in the corner of the dark kitchen in #12 Grimmuald Place. He rembered how happy he had been, three years ago, when he found out that somewhere out there, there was someone who was as good as kin to him. The whole house reminded him of Sirius, and it also reminded him that, once agin, he was a true orphan. Watching the Weasleys together wasn't helping either. They were all such a close family, and as close as Harry was to them, he couldn't help but feel out of place sometimes....like he didn't belong there.   
  
The whole summer he was haunted by images and memories of Sirius. How he, Ron, and Hermione brought him food in Hogsmeade a few years ago. How they all talked to his head in the fire. How they saved him from being killed their third year......  
  
We can't save him now.... Harry thought sadly. He felt his eyes tear up again, as they always did whenever he thought of Sirius. But he had to be strong. Thats's one thing I've learned from the Dursleys, at least. he smiled slightly at the irony, since the Dursleys never gave a damn about his emotions, or how he handled them, as long as he didn't get them involved. Blinking a few more times, he made the tears go away.  
  
The past month at thier house was better than his past summers, he had to admit. The Dursleys left him alone more and didn't mind if he sent messages out every day, or stay out in the streets later than Dudley. In fact, they seemed scared of him. More than usual anyway. Perhaps the thought of Voldemort, triggored some unhappy memories in Aunt Petunia's mind because she was more kind (however strange that was of her) to Harry. Both Uncle Vernon and her didn't even protest when the usual owl from the Weasleys arrived telling Harry that they would pick him up by floo powder again. In fact, it almost seemed as though the nicer they thought they would be to Harry, the least likely it was for them to get involved in his life outside of their home.  
  
"You know, Harry," Harry looked up at the source of the voice. He had been too into his reveries about Sirius, to notice that Hermione had come inside the room. She sat timidly beside him, "Don't get mad or anything, but....it's better to let it all out than to hold all of your sadness in all the time."  
  
Harry sighed, "I guess you're right...but I still feel aweful. If only I had listened to you and to Snape and to everyone else, he'd be here now...this is all my fault." he buried his head in his hands, trying to hide the tears that were now freely running down his face.   
  
Hermione leaned over and hugged him. When Harry looked up from his palms, he saw that she was crying too. "Harry....there are millions of 'if onlys' we could sit here and discuss, but that won't help us, will it now?" she said quietly. Then in an even more muted and saddened tone she said, "As much as all of us don't want to let go...we have to. We all just have to move on." she wiped a tear away and then smiled slightly, "At least now you know that somewhere you have your personal gaurdian angel."  
  
Harry smiled sadly. "Yeah....and it'll always be in the form of a big black dog..."  
  
The two friends looked at eachother and with unmentioned empathy, hugged again.  
  
"Harry? Hermione?" Ron had walked in the room, obviously looking for them. "Hey, I hope I'm not inturupting anything..." He broke of at the sight of his friends' faces. "Harry....I'm so sorry, mate..." he walked over and joined the hug, everyone in the house knew about Harry's tense emotions and offered hugs,words of kindness, and other warm, friendly gestures at him whenever possible.  
  
"What did you want, Ron?" Harry finally asked, more happily than he normally would.  
  
"Mum said that we have to get ready for some guests. I dunno who it is, but she was being all secrety about it." Ron answered in an equally bright way, sensing his friend's sudden exuberance. "Hope it's not Snape..."  
  
Harry hoped so too but for other reasons. Ever since he found his way into Snape's Pensive thoughts, he found it hard to look his Potions master in the eye. He could only imagine what kind of hell his 6th year would bring. While most Gryffindors abandoned Potions, he had to take it for the whole duration of his Hogwarts years if he ever wanted to be an Auror. The only comfort in the whole situation was the thought of Ron taking the class along with him. But knowing Snape, he would do anything to make both Ron and Harry's "learning experiance" as terrible as possible.   
  
"Ron, you know it won't be Snape. Your mum would never even makes us sit in the same room as him. I think she knows our feelings tawrd eachother are not at all friendly." Hermione said in her, I-am-totally-and completely-sure-that-I-am-right-so-don't-argue-with-me voice. Ron did nothing except cast her a look of annoyance because he was corrected.  
  
"Yeah, I agree with Hermione. We've never seen Snape except for glimpses once in a while." Harry said.  
  
As they bounded up the stairs to go meet the guests, the twins Apparated in front of them.   
  
"Hello, young ones!" Fred greeted them.  
  
"What are you doing here?! I thought you were supposed to be 'hard at work' in your joke shop." Ron answered, unfazed by his brothers sudden appearance.  
  
"Just thought we ought to be here to show the new Hogwarts student around to the best shop in Diagon Alley." George replied nonchalantly. "He-"  
  
"Or more hopefully she-" Fred cut in, grinning.  
  
"Will be in your year, you know." George finished.  
  
Harry, Ron, and Hermione exchnged a look. A new student. Hogwarts never recieved new students.   
  
"No, we didn't know! How come no one ever tells us stuff?" Ron cried out after the small shock the trio recieved.  
  
"Because, everyone loves us more!" the twins said in unison, before Disapperating.  
  
"I hate when they do that! They always know stuff before me! And this is important too!" Ron said in an upset tone.  
  
There was a small pause after Ron's last comment, as the group soaked in the information.  
  
"All I want to know is why..." Hermione thought out loud, breaking the silence.   
  
"What?" Harry and Ron were used to being puzzled by Hermione's way of thinking.  
  
"Nevermind....I could be wrong."  
  
"Wrong at wha-" Ron never finished his sentance because just then, the doorbell rang and Mrs. Black began screaming her usual "FILTH, SCUM, HALF-BREEDS, MUDBLOODS! BEGONE FROM THE HOUSE OF MY FATHERS! YOU DO NOT BELONG HERE!"   
  
"HARRY! RON! HERMIONE! Could you three please come here?!" Mrs. Weasly somehow made herself heard over all the noise.  
  
"Come on, that must be them." Harry started walking up the stairs again.  
  
"Yeah, I want to know ask her why Fred and George knew before we did anyway."  
  
"Ron!" Hermione said in an annoyed voice.  
  
"WHAT? It's not right! This concerns us more than them! We should heve been the first to know."  
  
"Yes, but I don't see why you are making such a big deal out of this."  
  
"Hmm...let's see, MAYBE BECAUSE THEY DIDN'T CARE ABOUT ANYTHING EXCEPT THEIR JOKE SHOP UNTIL NOW AND THEY GOT TO KNOW BEFORE WE DID!"  
  
"Do you realize that you just reiterated what you said 10 seconds ago?"  
  
"SO? Your point is?"  
  
"My point is that it doesn't matter who knew first! It just matters that you behave yourself in front of the guests, instead of going on and on about who knew first!"  
  
"Who are you, my mother?"  
  
And on and on it went, accompanied by: "HOW DARE YOU ALL BEFOUL THE HOUSE OF BLACK?! YOU DIRTY,FILTHY THINGS!" until they reached the top of the stairs.  
  
As soon as they were in the main hallway, Mrs. Weasley ushered them into the dingy living room. "What took you all so long? I must have called for you 25 minutes ago!" she scolded under her breath.   
  
Since the room was a bit on the smaller side and there were about 10 people in it, it took a while for them to notice exactly who the 'guests' were. When Harry finally could get a clear view of the guests he was shocked to see Professor McGonagall standing next to the prettiest girl he'd ever seen and two people who appeared to be her parents.   
  
Ron nudged Harry in the ribs,"Do you reckon veelas can be brunettes?"   
  
Harry smiled, "I don't see you jumping out the window,so I guess that would be a no."  
  
"Acctually, I was thinking more along the lines of wacking myself in the head with a candlebra."  
  
"Would you two behave like adults? She's not the first pretty girl you've ever seen." Hermione hissed under her breath.  
  
The girl was now looking around the room and meeting everyone with her parents. With every person they met they were getting closer and closer to Harry and his friends. Harry felt his palms get sweaty and his face was getting hot. He looked at Ron, his cheeks were getting pinker and pinker by the second. Only Hermione seemed totally unfazed by the whole thing.  
  
"Ah, Hermione, I see you are letting the jealousy monster come after you....and technically we aren't adults yet."  
  
"No, I'm not Ron. And besides, even if she is pretty, it doesn't mean that she's intelligent."  
  
"Intelligence isn't everything to guys, you know." Ron relpied not taking his eyes off the girl.  
  
To this, Hermione only sniffed grudgingly.   
  
In a few minutes the girl and her parents came around to them, accompanied by Professor McGonagall. "These are the students I told you would be helping Allison around at school." she began introducing them,"This is Hermione Granger, Ron Weasley, and Harry Potter." Harry wasn't surprised when at the mention of his name, Allison's parents' eyes widened slightly. Unlike the usual 'Good Lord, wow, you're some child, young Harry.' he was used to recieving, her parents only held out their hands and introduced themselves to all three of them, instead of singling out Harry in some way.  
  
"Nice to meet all of you, I'm Claire Arden and this is my husband, Charles. And this is my daughter Allison." Mrs.Claire Arden said gesturing to each member of her family as she introduced them. Mr. Arden gave them a smile and shook each of their hands. Allison gave a bright smile and did the same as her father.  
  
Professor McGonagall then continued the introduction. "Mr. and Mrs. Arden are here to work for the Order. They have also recently been appointed American Wizarding Ambassadors. Since they moved from New York City to London, you understand that it would be impossible for Allison to go to her school this fall, so she will be attending Hogwarts. She has been Sorted into Gryffindor so I'll leave it to you three to get her accustomed to our school, alright?"   
  
They all nodded.   
  
"Alright then, we still have to meet a few more people so we have to hurry if we ever want to get to Diagon Alley before sunset.... But perhaps, you would like to get better aquainted with your new class mates, Miss Arden?" Professor McGonagall turned to Allison.  
  
"Of course." Allison replied.  
  
"Alright, honey, we'll leave you four to yourselves then." Mrs. Arden said before she and her husband went off to meet another group of people.  
  
Allison watched her mother and father walk away and then turned back to Harry, Ron and Hermione. "Hi, guess you know who I am now, ecxept, please call me Allie, I hate using my full name. I've heard a lot about you three."  
  
"Really from who?" Hermione said a bit harshly.  
  
Allie seemed ok with her attitude," Well,of course I've read about you in the magazines and newspapers but I thought all of that was a bunch of crap. I mean really, you all have been through a lot. The authors of those articles had no right to poke fun at you, because if they realized it or not, you guys were the ones who saved everyone for the past 5 years from Voldemort returning....ooops sorry! I forgot about how European wizards hate when his real name is said."  
  
Hermione seemed to soften up a bit after this comment. "Don't worry, it's ok. We're all trying to get over that."  
  
"What classes are you taking?" Ron asked.  
  
"Well, the subjects are a little differant here than they were at Tavington, my old school. Like we have Potions, Transfiguration, Herboblogy, and all those, but we don't have Muggle Studies, Care of Magical Creatures,and Astronomy, since it's kind of hard to see the stars in New York. So I've taken up Care of Magical Creatures, along with Potions, Transfiguration, Charms, Herbology, Astronomy, Arithmacy and Defense Against the Dark Arts, I mean that one is probably the most important class to take right now, given the circumstances and all."   
  
"That's cool, you're in all of my classes." Hermione said happily, all of her negativity completely gone.  
  
"Yeah and in all of mine and Ron's, except Divination...have you ever taken that class?" Harry found himself saying. He immediately wished he had taken that back, there had to be something Allie would like to talk about that would seem cooler and more interesting than subjects and classes.  
  
"Acctually I have...and I quit the same week I started. How can you stand it? It bothered me so much, because my teacher would predict something, and then if it was something bad, I would get all stressed out about it and then it would never happen, which was good, but I wasted all those nerves on nothing. And if it was something good, I would get wound up in it and be happy and then I'd find out that the prediction never came true, so I would be upset."  
  
"Oh my gosh, I quit it too! But mostly because our Professor is a complete fraud." Hermione gushed.   
  
Ron gave Harry a look and said in an undertone, "I thought Hemione was against her..." Harry smiled, and nodded.  
  
"What were you saying, Ron?" Hermione glared at him, telling him that she heard his comment.  
  
"I was just saying that I agree with you, Hermione, but Divination is the easiest subject to pass-you tell her a bunch of nonsense and she says its exactly what she predicted." Ron answered.  
  
"You know, she's not always wrong, though." Harry couldn't help but say. Again he regretted it. He couldn't possibly tell Ron, Hermione, and someone he just met that she predicted that he would have to kill Voldemort or the other way around for one of them to survive.  
  
"Come off it Harry, all she ever does is say is that you will die soon. And if I'm right, you're still alive." Hermione retorted.  
  
Allie laughed, "Oh my God, does she really? Sounds like a fraud to me!"  
  
"What's so funny?" Ginny Weasley joined them. Noticing Allie she immideately introduced herself, "Hi,I'm Ginny, Ron's sister, you must be Allison."   
  
Serena smiled that perfect smile of hers and said, "I prefer Allie, but yep that's me, nice to meet you, Ginny. Harry, Hermione and Ron were just telling me about your Divination Professor."  
  
"Oh yeah, her. Can't stand her, I took up Arithmacy like Hermione after Ron told me about her."   
  
"Doesn't have a good reputation, I guess."   
  
"Nope. I'm guessing that you are in their year, right?" Ginny asked.  
  
"Yes, what year are you in?"  
  
"One year younger than you four."  
  
"Oh....but you're in the same house...?" Allie asked hopefully.  
  
"Oh yeah! I got stuck in the same house as everyone else in the family!" Ginny laughed."So have you all warned her about Snape and Malfoy?" she asked the rest.  
  
"I was just about to." Harry lied. He had no intention of that, for now he was mesmerised by Allie's sparkly smile.  
  
"Warned me? Professor Snape was really nice, I met him when I was being Sorted." Allie said incredulously. "He was impressed with my Potions scores but still....he was nice, what's wrong with him?"  
  
Ginny, Hermione, Ron and Harry were all staring at her in disbeleif. Finally Ron chose to tell her.  
  
"What's wrong with him?! He hates Gryffindors. He's always keen on finding a way to get anyone in trouble, and he lets grudges stand in the way of giving out grades. He hates Hermione just because she's always getting good graes, she hates Harry because he and Harry's dad were enemies, and he hates me and Ginny because we're friends with Harry." he ranted.  
  
"I find that hard to beleive, but I'll take your word for it. And who's Malfoy? That's a weird name, I've got to say." Allie said, smiling as she said Draco's sur name.  
  
"He's-" Harry was just about to get all his angry feelings about Draco out when Mrs. Weasley came to get them.  
  
"All right, you lot, we've all got to get to Diagon Alley sometime, hopefully sometime today, but everyone seems so happy getting to know eachother I'd hate to spoil it. " she said to them. "But things have to get done sometime, of course, so we'll be leaving now." she turned to Allie. "Have you ever traveled by Floo Powder before, dear?"  
  
"No,...is it hard?" Allie said nervously yet politely.  
  
"No! Not at all! I'll just have you travel with someone to avoid getting you lost..." Allie looked horrified at this. "Harry, how about you? Could you go at the same time as Allison?"  
  
"Sure." Harry tried to seem nonchalant, but he was really thrilled with his luck.  
  
Everyone started following Mrs. Weasley, but Allie waited for Harry. "What's Floo Powder?" she asked curiously.  
  
Harry grinned as he remembered the first time he traveled by Floo Powder. "You have to see it to understand. Don't worry, it's nothing complicated." he reassured her.  
  
So one by one everyone took a handful of the powder and dissapeared in the fireplace.  
  
"Ready?" Harry asked Allie, holding her hand.  
  
"Yeah...bring it on!" she smiled her sunny smile again.  
  
With that they both disappeared too. 


	2. Ch 3Meeting for the 1st time

***Note from SunSplash,  
  
Hey, thanks for the reviews! In case anyone is confused, this is chapter 3, since I put the first two chapters together and they're listed as chapter one (hopethat's not too confusing) With that out of the way, I want to give a little info on the fanfic. It'll go between Allison's POV and third person POV. Acctually, eventually it'll probably turn to just Allie's POV, since I think I write better that way. (maybe I'm wrong, but that's what I think) Also I forgot to put up a disclaimer. (No characters belong to me [ damn, I want Draco ] except Allison Arden, Trent, Allie's parents, and Liz (comes into play later). The others belong to J.K. Rowling, but this plot belongs to me so please don't copy!) This is kind of cliche but, this story will be Allison/Draco (i know, i know, typical) and for all you Draco fans (like me), he'll come into play in this chapter! ::APPLAUSE FROM DRACO FANS:: ::SUNSPLASH TAKES A BOW::  
  
Rated R for language and some adult content in later chapters.  
  
Ok, I guess that's it for now so here's the next chapter! :-) ***  
  
Chapter 3  
  
Harry and Allie landed in the ashes of the Leaky Couldron's fireplace. This came as a releif to Harry since he was worrying about losing Allie. It would be bad enough for him to get lost himself, but losing someone he just met would be much worse.   
  
Allie got up before him, "I would help you get all the soot off, but we can't do magic so.... Here, I'll get my mom and she'll do it." In the few seconds that Harry spent rising to his feet, she returned with her mother. Mrs. Arden waved her wand around and all the soot dissapeared. Harry's clothes even appeared cleaner than before, but it was hard to tell with the dim lighting.  
  
"Harry, Allie!" Hermione was making her way to them with Ron and Ginny. "Glad to see you both pulled through. Taking two people in with Floo Powder isn't very safe." she said looking at both of them. "But you're here now so come on."  
  
The five of them made their way through all the adults and into the small backlot of the pub. While Hermione and Ginny showed Allie the way to get the bricks to reveal the way to Diagon Alley, Harry wondered out loud to Ron. "Do you reckon that she'll be in our little 'group' now?"  
  
Ron shrugged, "Seems as if Hermione hopes that she will be." (Both Hermione and Ginny were laughing at something with Allie.)  
  
"Yeah, she's never really got to hang around girls in the past. She's been stuck with us, intead." Harry said guiltily. For the past 5 years he's always had Ron to understand him...but what about Hermione? She was never close to any of the other girls in their year. Somehow, Harry felt as if he and Ron had been keeping her away from that all those years.  
  
"Well, she's got Ginny."  
  
"Yeah, but when does she acctually talk to Ginny outside of the common room? And Ginny's got her own friends too." Harry pointed out, still feeling guilty.  
  
Ron shrugged again and then smiled, "Have you ever noticed that most of the girls in our year are complete gits? I mean, some are pretty, but they aren't all there in the head, you know what I mean?"  
  
"But intelligence isn't everything to a guy." Harry said in imitation of what Ron said earlier.  
  
"Shut up, Harry."  
  
"You did say that..."  
  
"Yeah, so?"  
  
"Hermione didn't like it very much, in case you couldn't tell." By now the girls had revealed the way to the alley and were walking in without waiting for Harry and Ron.  
  
"That's only because she thinks she isn't good looking." Ron answered as he followed them, getting a bit pink in the cheeks.   
  
"What's that supposed to mean?" Harry inquiered, following Ron.  
  
"Nothing!"  
  
"Do you fancy Hermione, Ron?"   
  
At this Ron's cheeks got pinker and his ears started getting pink too. "Fancy her?! No way! She's one of my best friends, what do you think, I'm mad?"  
  
"Judging by the color of your face, you're getting there." Harry replied.  
  
"Oh shut it, Harry."  
  
It was a good thing that they ended that conversation, because Hermione turned around and yelled at them to hurry up. Ron and Harry sped up, and followed her and Ginny (who were steering Allie to the left), into Flourish and Blotts. This year they only needed three books- Standard Book of Spells, Grade 6; Battleing Demons & Other Foul Things, (their new Defense Against the Dark Arts textbook); and Advanced Potionmaking, which looked like the most complicating textbook they'd ever read. Apart from that, they had to help Allie get all of her books, and she had to get a lot more than them. It was shocking to see someone other than Hermione reading Hogwarts, A History, but Allie did just that before buying it so she could continue reading it later. No one was in more of a shock than Hermione herself, when she stood in awe, watching Allie purchase her textbooks, and a few other books that only Hermione had read.   
  
An hour later they were in Florence Fortescue's ice cream parlor, discussing everyone and everything to get Allie as accustomed as they could to Hogwarts, without her acctually stepping into the castle. Phrases like: "Each house has it's own ghost, you see...." and "They Sort the first years at the beginning of the start of term feast...." and "Hagrid teaches Care of Magical Creatures, Professor McGonagall teaches Transfiguration, Professor Flitwick teaches Charms, Snape teaches Potions, Professor Sinistra teaches Astronomy...." attacked Allie between bites of their sundaes.  
  
"Your school sounds great, but I was just wondering if you play any sports...?" Allie asked in reply to all the things she had been informed of seconds before. "At school, I mean."  
  
Harry nodded, this was a subject he could relate to. "We have House Quidditch teams."  
  
Allie brightened at this, "Do you have any open positions?"  
  
Harry thought for a second. "Acctually, yes we do....we'll be needing Beaters and a Chaser. I'm not sure who the Captain will be this year, but that's the person who'll decide when the tryouts will be."  
  
"So, I'm taking it that you are on the team?"   
  
"Yes, I'm the Seeker." not wanting to sound pompous he quickly added, "And Ron is the Keeper."  
  
Ron laughed slightly, "Well, I'm nowhere near as good as you are, Harry."  
  
"We play different positions, Ron, so don't say that." Harry said, slightly annoyed. Ron shouldn't put himself down, he was a great player....really he was....when the weather was good at least....and when there was a slight breeze, really he did fine, Harry tried to assure himself.  
  
"Harry, you're the best player on the team, different postions or not, and you know it." Ron replied bluntly.  
  
"I am not!"  
  
"Are too."  
  
"Am no-"  
  
"Will you two stop it?" Hermione and Ginny said in unison, both equally annoyed.   
  
"Well, do you think I have a chance for Chaser?" Allie asked, ignoring what Ron implyed, much to Harry's releif. He didn't want to look like he was all that, in front of her, and Ron's comments were pointing in that direction.  
  
There was a chorus of "Definately!", "Of Course!", and "You'll get the postion too, I bet."  
  
Allie looked surprised, but a little flushed. "You guys, don't even know how I play...what if I totally suck?"  
  
Everyone around the table laughed. Harry chose to answer to that. "Let's just say that the younger Gryffindors lack certain qualities that are needed for our team, to say that in a nice way."  
  
"HEY!"  
  
"Not you, Ginny, I meant the other people who tried out last year."  
  
"Oh, them... yeah, I agree."  
  
"What Harry means to say," Ron broke in, seeing that Harry missed a few important adjectives in describing the other tryouts. "Is that they can't play worth a damn. They stank at it, majorly. So honestly, even if you do suck, anyone is better than them."  
  
"Are you all serious? Or are you just being nice, because I'm new here?" Allie said,with some suspition in her voice.  
  
Again there was a chorus of replies, all bearing the same message.  
  
"No!"  
  
"Honestly, they stank."  
  
"What Ron said!"  
  
"Alright then, I was just wondering. I mean, everyone is making such a big deal over me for some reason now. It's getting a little annoying really - no offense to you, you've helped a lot - but, it feels like they know something I don't." Allie replied, her smile now replaced with a small perplexed frown.  
  
"Oh, beleive me, there's loads that they know, that we never will." Hermione replied, gesturing to the adults a few tables away."They're all in the Order, after all... and they seem to think that that's good reason for not telling us things we ought to know, anyway so I know what you mean. We've all learned to deal with it in the past year...their behavior kind of gets ordinary after a while." she finished and took a bite of her sundae.  
  
Allie nodded, and got quiet. She looked at them with pure curiousity. "Look, I understand that this is none of my business but...." Harry, Ron, Hermione, and Ginny all leaned in at this comment. Allie looked uncomfortable all the sudden. "Okay, nevermind, I shouldn't get into this....sorry, I didn't mean, just forget it."  
  
"You can ask us anything." Hermione reassured her, sensing the nature of the question Allie was about to ask. "you're bound to find out whatever it is that you want to know when you go to Hogwarts, so just ask us."  
  
Allie seemed hesitant at first but then spilled what was on her mind. "Okay, back in the US, we've been hearing stories about what happened during the past 5 years....nobody really beleived it since it all sounded so far fetched, but lots of people started getting nervous after the your Triwizard Tournament happened....I was just wondering-although it's wrong of me to ask, and I'm sorry-" she genuinely seemed to be sorry,"but what did happen?" Allie nervously looked at everyone surrounding her, and added, "You don't have to tell me, I'll understand, you all have been through a lot already, it seems."  
  
Harry cleared his throat nervously. Why was she nervous? She had nothing to be embarrassed about, he on the other hand had plenty to want to hide, but he couldn't. Whai if she thought he was mad too? What if she didn't beleive him? What if-  
  
"It's alright...."Harry started before any more 'what ifs' came to mind. "I'll tell you everything that's happened during the past 5 years....if any of it sounds crazy to you, you have the right to your own opinion and you can think whatever you want but I'm telling you the truth-"  
  
"Harry,"Allie inturrupted him,"Sorry to inturupt but that's why I wanted to ask you. I don't think you have any reasons to lie, and I'll beleive you...." she smiled lightly, "I've read the Daily Prophet and I know what you mean by telling me that I have the right to my own opinion....but just so you know, I won't think of you as a crackhead if I find anything hard to beleive."  
  
"Thanks, Allie...I appreciate that..." Filled with a new sense of confidance because of her words, Harry took a deep breath and began to tell her and (everyone else), the events that occured to him every year, from the time he was 11.  
  
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*  
  
After Harry finished telling me about all the previous events all I could do was sit and stare at them all in turn. I know that probably wasn't an attractive thing to do, but I couldn't help but be amazed by what happened to all of them.   
  
"Wow...that's.....that's...." I couldn't find the right words to say. I must have sounded like a mentally deranged idiot.   
  
Harry shrugged. "Yeah, well, that's what happened..."  
  
"I can't beleive you survived all those times." I finally managed to utter.  
  
He shrugged again, and the conversation drifted off to Quidditch again. Although, I joined the converstation I couldn't help but get flashes of mental pictures of Harry fighting off Voldemort. I know if I were in his shoes, I probably wouldn't be here now. After a while, we decided to go and walk around Diagon Alley, before all the shops closed.   
  
I scanned my supply list as we walked. "I still need to get dress robes...where do we go for that?" I was steered to Madam Malkin's Robes for All Occasions and started looking at all the different fabrics with Ginny and Hermione. Ron and Harry chose not to get involved in this and said that they would meet us back at the Leaky Couldron, as they went off to look at brooms. Ginny, Hermione, and I began to scan racks of fabrics for our robes.  
  
"Glad that they're gone," Ginny muttered, "I was wondering when I would have a chance to go find Dean..." she pressed her face to the shop's window  
  
"Dean? Who's Dean?" I asked, pulling out a deep plum colored silk to admire.  
  
"I think that color's too dark for you..."Ginny turned around to look at me. "And Dean is my boyfriend, Ron doesn't like him very much...beats me why..."  
  
"Because he wants you to fancy Harry again." Hermione answered simply, pulling out a blood red satin and holding that up to my face, to compare if it was my color or not.  
  
"That one's better, I think." Ginny pointed me to nearest mirror, "But it still looks a bit....not dressy enough for you."  
  
"You liked Harry?" I asked scanning the racks for a better color.  
  
"Yep, but I was like, 11...that was a long time ago." Ginny answered, watching the window out of the corner of her eye. "Then I realized that he wasn't my type, so I gave up....kinda outgrew him, really."  
  
"What's wrong with Harry?" Hermione asked suspicously, defending her friend.  
  
"Nothing, other than the fact that he keeps on moping about Cho. And you know, she's not that pretty either, she just has really nice hair." Ginny replied idly, scanning another rack.  
  
"Yeah, you're right, Ginny." Hermione agreed and pulled out a silvery white silk and handed it over to me. "What do you think? I think this is the best one we've seen so far."   
  
It definately was. "Thanks, this is beautiful..." I fingered the fabric, it felt smooth and cool. I felt guilty that they were finding stuff for me and not themselves. "Now we have to find you two something."  
  
As we looked through more racks, another question that I've been wanting to ask popped into my mind. I'd just been waiting for the right time, so it wouldn't seem too....too...well, too rude, you could say. "Are there any other cute guys at school? Other than Harry and Ron, they look nice." They seemed to brighten at this. Ah, the international gift of girltalk.   
  
"Well....there's Ben Travton in Ravenclaw, but he's a bit of an idiot, no idea how he got into that house..." Hermione started, Ginny broke in, "And there's Dylan Fulton in Hufflepuff, but he's more of puppydog cute, than acctually handsome..."  
  
"And there's Thomas Edgarten from Slytherin, but he's worse than Ben."  
  
"Duh, he's a Slytherin, they're all idiots!" Ginny exclaimed.  
  
"True, and then....well, I'd hate to admit it, since he's the biggest asshole in the world..." Hermione said slowly, choosing her words carefully.  
  
"Bigger than Ben Trav-whatever?" I volunteered, jokingly. She and Ginny giggled along with me, but then Hermione replied.  
  
"Oh yes, he's the biggest idiot of all...."  
  
Ginny seemed to catch on,"You mean....Malfoy?"  
  
Hermione nodded sheepishly, "If we're talking physical, than yeah, and you know you have to agree with me on this, Gin."  
  
Ginny's cheeks got a little pink but she replied, "Yeah, suppose you're right, but just so you know, he's the biggest asshole, you'll ever meet. He thinks he's all high and mighty because his dad had connections with the Ministry...wonder what he's like now, with his father in Azkaban and all..." she wondered out loud gleefully.  
  
"Wait...isn't that the same guy Harry was talking about? The one who called you a ...." I didn't want to say it, but Harry mentioned it when he was telling me about what happened his second year.  
  
"A Mudblood, yep that's the one." Hermione said bluntly. "You'll see what he's like tomorrow, he's bound to let his presence known to us, just like he's always done in the past." she added in a slightly sarcasric tone.  
  
"I hate when they turn out that way." I said absently, "You know, hott but without a good personality?"  
  
They nodded in agreement.   
  
We ended up buying Hermione some lavender robes, and Ginny some royal blue ones. "Wonder why we need dress robes this year...?" Hermione wondered out loud as we walked out of the shop and headed back to the Leaky Couldron. Ginny just shrugged, openly dissapointed because she didn't see Dean. When we got back, everyone was already there and bidding eachother goodbyes. We decided to meet at Kings Cross twenty minutes before the train left so I could get on the platform properly.   
  
My parents and I turned to leave to go home the normal way, since we lived in a private Muggle neighborhood and everyone else was going back by Floo Powder again. Leaving the Leaky Couldron and stepping into the small alley, I couldn't help but feel a rush of curiousness about this 'Malfoy' guy.  
  
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*  
  
I woke up the next morning earlier than I had planned, even earlier than the time I set for my alarm clock to wake me up at. This irritated me since I'm one of those people who if woken from their sleep, have a hard time returning to it. There was nothing I could do about the nervousness and excitement that had settled in my body since the day before, so sleep was definately useless.   
  
I looked at the alarm clock again- 6:05 A.M. Sleepily, I lumberd downstairs and grabbed some cereal and juice from the kitchen before slumping down in front of the TV. I've learned that this was odd for wizarding families in the UK -having electricity and TVs and all that, I mean. I smiled to myself as I switched the channel to MTV and saw Justin Timberlake's face on the screen, they didn't know what they were missing.  
  
An hour later I was fully awake and began packing my stuff, being the procrastinator I was, I hadn't done it the day before. By the time I had everything nice and neat in my trunk, it was still too early (8:10). By now my parents had awaken and were getting ready themselves. I flopped on my bed and snuggled in. If I couldn't go to sleep I could at least get some thinking done.   
  
I thought about everything that had a happened the day before at Diagon Alley.....Ginny and Hermione......Ron and Harry.......Malfoy....Wait a sec! a voice in my head broke all my peaceful thoughts. You don't know this guy and you're already getting hung up about him! Am not. Are too. Am NOT. Are TOO.   
  
I'm just nervous, that's all. Right, and that's why you've been wondering what this guy looks like, all through yesterday. God, I wished that nasty little voice would just fuck off.  
  
Thank God for my mom ("ALLIE! ARE YOU READY YET?! WE'LL BE LATE IF YOU DON'T HURRY UP!") or I would have still been in my bed arguing with myself. I put on some denim flares and a baby blue sweater, and brushed my straight hair out.  
  
"ALLISON MARIE ARDEN!"  
  
"I'm coming, I'm coming already!" And I thought I got up too early....  
  
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*  
  
We arrived at Kings Cross about 5 minutes late and found the Weasleys. After all the greetings were exchanged, I was told to (basically) run right into a wall and that's how I would get to the Hogwarts express. Not very comforting. So I ran into the wall, and instead of killing myself, like I thought I would, I ended up on a new platform- 9 3/4.  
  
Hermione appeared by my side in a few minutes followed by Ron, Ginny and Harry. After saying good bye to our parents and taking care of our luggage, we got on the train. "Ron and I have to go to the Prefect compartment for a while but we'll come and find you as soon as we can." Hermione told me and the rest, before going to the front of the train and dragging an unwilling Ron behind her. "Come on, the compartments fill up pretty fast." Harry said and led me and Ginny to an empty one.   
  
As soon as we found the compartment, Ginny made some bogus excuse to leave so she could go find Dean, and I was left with Harry. We started talking about Quidditch and then the conversation somehow went to brooms (I had a Nimbus 2001).   
  
"You have a Firebolt?! Lucky you!" I exclaimed. "Better let me try it sometime!"  
  
Harry grinned, "Sure, why not."  
  
The comartment door slid open and Ginny came in with Ron, Hermione, and three other guys, I hadn't met yet.   
  
"Hi, I'm Dean."   
  
"I'm Seamus."  
  
"I'm Neville." They introduced themselves, and I introduced myself to them. I told them about just moving here (no mention of the Order to anyone, were my parents instrustions, so I told them we moved here to be with family). Ginny, Ron, Harry, and Hermione must have caught on, because they didn't say anything about my lie.  
  
"Well," Ron grinned just as gleefully as Ginny had the day before. "Malfoy isn't as cocky as he usually is."  
  
"His dad's in jail, Ron, didn't you expect that?" Ginny said, searching for something in her pocket.  
  
"Sort of...."  
  
"Hopefully now he'll stop being such a git." Harry said.  
  
"Don't count on it." Ron replied.  
  
"Git, am I?" a drawling voice came from the compartment doorway. I looked at the owner of that voice. He was tall, (about 6'), and a few whisps of his white blond hair fell into the most amazing steel grey eyes I'd ever seen. My eyes were hazel, so sometimes, when I was mad mostly, they turned greyish-blue but they were nothing compared to his icy stare.  
  
He turned that stare to me. "And who are you?"  
  
Oh, so he thought he was though? Two can play that game. "If you ask nicely, I might consinder telling you." I retorted.  
  
He smirked, "Well, I guess I'll have to wait, then."  
  
"That's your loss."  
  
"Oh really?" he smirked again and gave me the once-over. Asshole, first pissing me off and now checking me out in plain sight.  
  
"Petty people aren't worth my time, so there's no need to ask your name." He just shot me a glare. Ha, take that you bastard.  
  
"What do you want, Malfoy?" Ron asked in a bored tone.  
  
"Just wanted to let you know," he said slowly, never taking his steel eyes off me,"that you shouldn't expect my family to give up so easily....we have other plans..."  
  
"Fuck off, Draco." Harry snapped.  
  
"Temper, Potter. You wouldn't want people to think you're a madman again, would you?" Draco paused,"But then again, you have always wanted more attention than you deserve."   
  
So his name was Draco. Sexy name....makes up for his aweful lastname....but it doesn't make up for his aweful personality.  
  
"Oh, go cry to your daddy, if you have a problem with my temper. Oh that's right you can't, because he's in Azkaban with the dementors!" Harry said coolly.  
  
"Potter, Potter," Draco tisked mockingly, his eyes glittering. "You have to understand that not everyone starts fainting when dementors come round." and with that he shot me another glare, and walked out of the compartment.  
  
"Told you he was an asshole." Hermione whispered.  
  
"Yeah," I was still watching the compartment's doorway, now empty of Draco's tall frame.  
  
****OK, I know, not alot of Draco ( too much is never ehough), but the best has yet to come! Please R&R!   
  
SHOUT OUT TO ToOtHpIcK, lylas! :-) 


	3. Ch4 Home Hogwarts

****A/N: I'd really appreciate if more people reviewed, that way I can find out what's good/bad (in your opinion) about the fic....or I can be pessimistic and say that no one reads my fic....:-( ::cries::   
  
To everyone who did review, **MUAH** u deserve a kiss! lol  
  
I changed the rating so more people would be able to view my fic (used to be R now its PG13). Don't freak out, I'm not gonna go all creepy and explict on ya, so I think the new rating suits the fic better. (the only ::bad:: stuff is the language, but hey, we've all used that kind of language at least once in our lifetime!)......i think that's it. k, here's chapter 4!  
  
Chapter 4  
  
After Draco left, the conversation gradually drifted back to Quidditch and what everyone did that summer. They also thought that they should inform me some more about how horrible or 'wicked' the classes were (again). Everyone loved Care For Magical Creatures, and despised Potions. I still couldn't see why they all hated Snape. He was nice to me, despite what they said. Oh well, I guess I'd soon find out for myself. I've met way too many two faced people in New York to ignore their comments about him completely.   
  
Speaking of New York.....I thought of Trent for maybe the first time since we got here. Wonder what he was doing right now....  
  
"Allie?" someone said.  
  
"Hmmm?" I looked to see who said my name. It was Hermione.  
  
"We'll be at Hogwarts soon so do you want to go change into our robes now?"  
  
"Um, sure....where are we going to change?"  
  
"The loo, since there's more guys than girls in here." I was about to ask why the guys couldn't go change in the loo but Hermione must have read my thoughts. "Believe me, if we tried to even suggest that they leave, it'll take longer than if we go ourselves."  
  
I smiled, guys are the same everywhere, lazy as hell. "Okay then." I gathered my stuff with Hermione and Ginny and followed them to the girls bathroom. It was surprising to see a full school bathroom with stalls and everything on a train. I pictured it to be a lot smaller. They must have done some kind of charm to make it all fit. The only problem was, there weren't enough stalls for the 15 or so girls that were waiting to change. We arrived a bit late and were the last three in line. Well, I was the last in line acctually. I hated being last at anything, restroom line or whatever.   
  
What was really annoying though, was this group of girls a few people ahead of us, who kept on turning around and giggling when they looked at us. Hermione rolled her eyes. "Ignore them," she told me,"That one there-" she pointed at the ugliest girl in the group."Is Draco Malfoy's girlfriend."  
  
"You got to be kidding me!" I was surprised, that Draco guy didn't have the best personality but he was pretty hot. This ugly girl just didn't fit in with all his handsome glory.  
  
"Nope, thats her..." Ginny smiled at my reaction. "I know what you mean by that....every girl at our school thinks the same thing. He's hot and she's hedious, but beleive me, they compliment eachother with their *wonderful* personalities."  
  
Soon, everyone in front of me had a stall, even Hermione and Ginny. At least people here were more polite, they seemed to understand that there were others waiting to change too. I know if this was NY, we'd have been in the bathroom for two hours. I told Hermione and Ginny not to wait for me, what would be the point in that? I am perfectly capable of walking a few yards to the compartment by myself.   
  
I was the last one to get a stall and the last to get changed. By the time I was dressed, everyone had already left the bathroom. It was kinda creepy. Anxious to get back to the compartment, I checked my hair in one of the mirrors and opened the door to leave.   
  
"OWW!"   
  
Just my luck, open a door and whack someone in the face. I panicked and looked around to see who I hit. Some guy was holding his nose, his back to me, and mumbling some profanity. As sorry as I was, this was kinda funny.  
  
"I'm so sorry! Are you oka-" I started apologizing, then the guy turned around and glared at me."Oh, it's you."  
  
"Yeah, it's me." Draco said venomously, rubbing his nose.  
  
"I was worried I hit someone worthwhile for a second. But since it's you, I can only say that I wish I had done more damage." I turned to leave, but he grabbed my arm. I spun around, "Let go of me." I said forcefully, my anger rising. Between checking me out, pissing me off, and grabbing me for no reason, I was starting to see why no one liked him.  
  
He ignored my command. "I see Pothead and Weasel have been putting ideas in your head about me."  
  
"No, acctually truth isn't considered and 'idea' it's more of a fact." I smacked the hand that was binding me hard and he immediately let go. Not as strong as he looks....."And anyway," I continued "I would have figured what kind of person you are myself in no time."  
  
Draco crossed his arms over his chest and cocked an eyebrow, "Oh really? What kind of person am I, then?" He shot me a malicious glare.  
  
"Just by how you acted now and 20 minutes ago in our compartment, I can tell you are a selfish snob, who thinks of himself as all high and mighty. You think that you have power over anyone who is not pureblood, has less money than you, or has more potential in life than just winding up in Azkaban before they're 20." I answered simply, and started to walk away.  
  
"What exactly are you trying to say with that last sentence there?" Draco inquired dangerously and began to walk closer to me.   
  
Ok, I admit it. For about 5 seconds I was freaked. I mean, this guy is 6 feet tall, thats like 10 inches taller than me (I'm only 5'2)! And here he was ganging up on me like some creepy stalker. But then I realized, what could he do? I was the so called "new girl" at the school and he was in deep shit because of his dad. If he did anything out of line, (esspecially harrassing the only daughter of the American Ambassadors) he'd be expelled in faster than he could blame it on something else.  
  
"What did I mean by that?" I repeated in an equally dangerous tone. "I think you know exactly what I meant by that."  
  
He stood there, not saying anything, his cheeks flushing a bit. Deciding that I had done enough damage (for now) on his over blown ego, I started to leave for the third time, hoping he's leave me alone this time. But he didn't.  
  
"You'll pay for that, you nasty little American bitch!" he said to my back.  
  
I turned around and gave a him a smirk to rival his own. "I'd like to see you try. Although I wouldn't advise you to, because you see, unlike some people, my dad is still around. But before my parents get to you, I sure as hell will take care of you myself, because I , unlike you, can take care of matters without crying to my parents." And with that I left.  
  
I hated acting like I just did to Draco because I normally wasn't like that. But he totally deserved it. Finnally someone had the guts to give him a taste of his own medicine.  
  
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~**~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*  
  
Draco stood in the train corridor, watching the American girl walk back to her compartment. How dare she do that?! Draco just couldn't understand it. It seemed like every girl at Hogwarts loved him...well his looks anyway, his attitude was a different story. Once he thought about it, he was just as famous at Hogwarts as Harry-fucking-Potter. The only girls who seemed immune to his 'charms' were that Mudblood Granger and Weasley's little sister, but they weren't his type at all. Granger came off as a lesbian sometimes (to the Slytherins anyway) and that little Weasley....well, she's a Weasley, let's just leave it at that.  
  
Draco walked back to his own compartment still fuming about what the American new girl said. How could she be such a bitch when she didn't know half of it? She didn't live his life. She hadn't gone through what he had gone through practically his whole life....and she probably never would, either. Lucky bitch, Draco thought storming into his compartment.  
  
As soon as he entered, Pansy jumped onto him. "What's wrong, Draco? Was it that Pothead again?" she giggled stupidly at the nickname, automatically attaching herself to his arm.   
  
"No, it was that new girl..." Draco said, prying his arm away from her leechlike grasp.   
  
Pansy seemed to take no notice of this and continued babbling. "Yeah, I saw her in the bathroom....she's so tiny and omigod, don't you think that her hair needs to be cut? I mean, it's like halfway to her elbows! She looks like a total hippie." As if to punctuate her comment, she patted her own, short scraggily hair. All the other girls in the compartment nodded in agreement.   
  
Draco ignored her airheaded comments most of the time. The only ones that were worth hearing were 'You're so hot!' or 'No one plays Quiddich like you do!', things of that nature. Honestly, he didn't even like her like the whole school seemed to think. They all thought that since he and Pansy came from the same kinds of families and were in the same house, that they were an item. The truth was, this all started the summer before 3rd year when Draco's parents invited the Parkinsons for a formal dinner. He would have done anything to get away from her, but under his parent's instructions he was to play the perfect little gentleman throughout the night. So Draco spent the night politely flirting with her, and in turn got 'flattering remarks' from Mrs. Parkinson about how "he was the spitting image of Lucius". It was never meant to go farther than that, but Pansy seemed to think that all that polite flirting meant that Draco fancied her and ever since found it her personal ambition to be Draco's own human-leech.  
  
Draco frowned that the memory of that dinner. He didn't think of Mrs. Parkinson's comment as a compliment....and he sure as hell didn't think that her daughter was the love of his life.  
  
"Draco?? Hello? Are you ok?" Blaise Zambini waved his hand in front of Draco's face.   
  
"What?" Draco snapped.  
  
"Nothing, you just kind of spaced out.....anyway, I bet you told that American off, didn't you? What did you say to her? She's probably off crying her head off to Pothead now."  
  
Pansy's group of followers snickered idioticly.  
  
Draco didn't want to admit the he was the one who got told off, not the American. "Oh that....yeah I just told her not to mess with me, you know, the usual stuff, and she just kind of got teary eyed and ran off crying." Couldn't be farther than the truth.....he thought to himself.  
  
Blaise, and everyone else in the compartment guffawed, and then one of Pansy's followers spoke up. "Hey, does anyone know her name? Aren't her parents the Ambassadors for the United States over here?"  
  
Pansy nodded, "I think so, I read it in the paper a few weeks ago....I know the last name is Arden and I think her name is Allison. Anyway, I don't like her already, did you see how her and Granger were sniggering at us in the bathroom? Ugh, tasteless manners!" she made an overexaggerated face of disgust.  
  
She and Blaise were now in a deep conversation about how American wizards and witches were Mudblood lovers and were as good as Muggles themselves. Their cruel comments were inturrupted now and then with more stupidly-sounding giggles from Pansy's lot. Draco chose to divert himself from this converstaion by pretending to be asleep. The only problem now was, whenever he closed his eyes he saw Allison's pretty face furiously glaring at him. Wait.....did I just call her pretty? Draco thought, She's not that pretty, she's pretty bitchy....yeah that's what I meant....pretty bitchy... Soft rain began to patter and with the peaceful sound of it hitting the window, he dozed off.   
  
No sooner had Draco fallen asleep than Pansy awoke him with piglike squeals about how the rain would ruin her hair, unless she could use his hooded cloak. Draco willingly handed over his cloak-anything to make her shut up!- and hurried out of the compartment.  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~~*~*~*~*~*~*~  
  
So, this was it. The famous Hogwarts. It was pretty grand,but nothing like Tavington's modern appliences and Muggle inventions. Everything here was as basic as it could get. It even looked like the only source of light were candles.....I began to wonder how I would survive for the next 9 1/2 months here, but then Hermione and Ginny pulled me away to meet some more people in Gryffindor. Everyone was really sweet and welcomed me politely. They all asked what the US was like and if it was true that the magical people had to use Muggle things and used practically no magic at all. I answered all their questions, while we all waited for a carridge on the platform.  
  
As we entered Hogwarts, I was the one bombarding everyone with questions. The thing that really amazed me was the ceiling in the Great Hall. It was so cool to see droplets of water fall and just as you thought they were going to hit you, they vanished. Hermione was the one who explained everything and told me that if I read Hogwarts, A History, it would all make better sense. I made a mental note of doing just that after dinner.  
  
Professor McGonagall sorted all the first years out and then Professor Dumbledore got up to make a speech. Uh-oh, I hoped he wouldn't call any attention to me. I didn't feel comfortable being stared at by 500 or something strangers.  
  
"Ahem," all eyes were on him,"Welcome to another year at Hogwarts everyone. I must again inform you of the usuals, no one goes into the Forbidden Forest, no magic in the corridors, and please check Mr. Filch's list of things that potentially may cause danger to students- Dungbombs and the like." his crystal like eyes sparkeled in my direction. Dammit! He was definately going to mention me. "And lastly, I would like to welcome Miss Allison Arden to Hogwarts. I hope everyone welcomes our new student graciously and makes her experiance here as pleasent as possible." I felt myself blushing as someone began to clap and more and more people joined in. There was a faint 'boooo!' from the farthest table, which I took to be the Slytherin table, and saw Draco's girlfriend and her clique laughing. He seemed unfazed by all of this and was leaning into his chair with his eyes partially closed. My anger tward him somehow decreased a little, at least he wasn't booing me, like everyone else around him. But why should I care about him? He meant nothing to me,....right? Right, I thought to myself, I don't care about him, I care about Trent....  
  
~*~***~*~  
  
The next day I awoke early since the sun was shining right into my eyes. I looked over at the clock on the wall- 7:00.....too early.  
  
"Oh good , you woke up. For a minute I thought I would have to wake you up myself..." Hermione mumbled as she pulled on her robes.  
  
I smiled sleepily, "You might have had to if it was still raining...damn sun...." I began to put my own robes on and went to wash up in the bathroom. After 15 minutes, I gathered my stuff and headed down to breakfast with Hermione, Ron, and Harry.  
  
The Great Hall was already bustling with semi-sleepy students yelling good mornings at one another. I was eager to go to my classes, and compare them to Tavington, I mean, not to sound snobby or anything, but from statistics, our school showed more progress on OWLs and NEWTs. Professor McGonagall was already passing out schedules and was making her way over to us.  
  
"I hope the first day won't be as bad as last year!" Harry said to no one in particular.  
  
"Well you know that we'll still have Care of Magical Creatures and Potions with the Slytherins so why bother getting your hopes up?" Hermione said simply, helping herself to some eggs.  
  
"You've got a point...." Ron agreed. "Hello, Professor!" he said cheerfully a minute later, taking his schedule from McGonagall.  
  
"Good morning Mr. Weasly..." she replied as she handed me and Hermione our schedules.  
  
Ron scanned his paper and chuckled,"You're right Harry, it IS as bad as last year...double of everything! Divanation, then Herbology-that's not so bad..." he read on, "then Double Potions to close the day...yep, 2 out of 3 horrible classes..."  
  
45 minutes later Hermione and I headed off to Arithmacy and Harry and Ron went to Divanation. The class was pretty much the same as Tavington and I made it through the first lesson with ease. Harry and Ron were not so lucky.  
  
"How many times am I supposedly going to die, again?" Harry said sarcastically.  
  
"I think today was the 500th time she told you that,Harry, if not more." Ron replied.  
  
Herbology was alright too, the Hufflepuffs were some of the nicest people I had ever met, not the brightest, but nice none the less. I was dreading Potions for some reason the most. With all the talk of how horrible the Slytherins and Snape were, I was very jittery by the time we headed to the dungeons for the last lesson of the day.  
  
We took the last four seats in the back row just as Snape came in. Looking around the room I saw Pansy and Draco in one of the front seats looking back at where we were and giggling. In my opinion, they seriously needed to get a life. However, as soon as Snape came up to the front of the class, they all shup up.  
  
"Congradulations, so far most of you have turned out to be not as dumbwitted as I thought," (he said this staring straight at the Gryffindors) "However, in this class, you will find it more difficult to slip by with an 'acceptable'. To make sure that as many of you as possible can pass this year, we will be spending the first month reviewing everything we did last year. Since this is a review, I expect your potions to be better than they were last year. With that in mind-" he pointed to the chalkboard and the directions to making a Sleeping Draft appeared."You have your work, now get started."  
  
I didn't see what all the fuss was about. Snape seemed alright...So with that the first day wasn't as bad as I anticipated. The real shock came at dinner, when some 7th years came by and told us that a Defense Against the Dark Arts teachers hasn't been found and Dumbledore has hired Lupin again. At the thought of this, Ron and Harry brightened and took off for the DADA classroom in hopes of seeing their old teacher and friend again.  
  
So the month passed by rather quickly since we were all kneedeep in homework, and with most people being procratinators, barely anyone (except Hermione) got it done on the first day, so everyone gathered in the common room to help eachother out every night. It wasn't until October had rolled around that things started getting ugly.  
  
On the first Monday of October, Snape dropped the big bomb. We were to have assigned Potions Partners for half the year and if we chose to could swich for the second half. Apperently he wanted to teach us to 'get along' ("Right, and he knows a lot on that subject." Ron muttered under his breath). I hated working with partners. I always was a control freak and I had to have everything done the right way. I hated having other people in my way, when I could get the job done so much faster than working with them.  
  
Snape began pairing people up. I (and pretty much everyone else) noticed that there was an odd number of Slytherins and an odd number of Gryffindors....which meant that someone from both houses would be paired up. God help them. Pretty soon Hermione, Seamus, Draco and I were the only ones left.  
  
Oh no.  
  
NO WAY. *please don't let this happen!*  
  
"And the next pair is Miss Granger and Mr. Finnigan...."  
  
DAMN YOU!  
  
"...and the last pair is Mr. Malfoy and Miss Arden, alright, that's it, your work is on the board, move next to your partner and get to work!" he barked at us.  
  
I looked at Draco. Ugh, no way in hell would this work. Reluctantly I started moving my things over to his desk. Of all people.....it just HAD to be HIM. I ignored the jealous looks I was getting from the Slytherin girls, if I had the opportunity to switch with them I would in a heartbeat. But unfortunately, I couldn't so I was slowly, step by step walking up to what was sure to be 4 1/2 months of hell.  
  
***A/N: yeah i know it wasn;t that long. sorry! this wasn't the most interesting chapter either, so stick around for more! and PLEASE REVIEW!!!!!!!! if you review I'll post the next chapter sooner! :-D 


	4. Ch5 Potions

*A/N:Keep the reviews coming! Thanks to Shanner Nanner and ToOtHpIcK!:-)*  
  
DISCLAIMER: nope i dont own anything except my plot and Allie Arden!  
  
Chapter Five  
  
*He was falling...falling into something he could not see or feel...He fell into what felt like water, but it burned his skin like acid...esspecially his arm...The burning fluid was rushing all around him, pulling him deeper and deeper into its fiery depths...Then there was the laughter. High, cold, cruel laughter that he had heard so many times before...and the eyes. Red glowing eyes, that seemed to penetrate right through his skull...His whole body was in pain, but he found himself being drawn to the source of the laughter...Although he was terrified of both of these things, he felt like he needed something from the thing that was causing him all this pain and terror...closer...closer....If he could only get a little closer--*  
  
Draco awoke with a start. He found himself drenched in cold sweat, and his heart was pouding against his chest. Trying to get his breathing back to a normal rate, he recalled fragments of his dream...the laughter....the pain.....and most horrifying of all- those blood red eyes...What would have happened if he had gotten closer to them...? Draco thought desperately, trying to remember something-anything- but it was useless, like trying to cup water in your hands. The more he tried to think about it, the more excruciating the pain in his head got.  
  
Feeling confused and somewhat releived that it was just a dream, Draco fell back into his pillows. He looked to the window and saw the first rays of sunshine peeking forom behind the rolling green hills that surrounded the school. It looked welcoming to him after the darkness he was surrounded by in the dream.   
  
After a few attempts of trying to return to his slumber, Draco gave up and got out of bed. The bedroom was quiet apart from Crabbe's sporadic snores, and was now drenched in sunshine. As quietly as he could, Draco sunk out, heading for the Great Hall. When he got there, the big oak doors were still closed, showing signs that breakfast wasn't served yet.  
  
It was still early and he wanted to be alone, so he decided on taking a walk along the lake. Lately he felt a lot like that- wanting to be alone. He didn't know what it was but the usual behavior of his Slytherin peers was getting to be repulsive. With every cruel remark they made he became less and less like his usual self. After his father got landed in Azkaban, he became the center of other people's jokes, never in his life had he been in that position until now. He'd always been the smart one, the cute one, the popular one...now all of that was nearly lost.   
  
He almost felt sorry for the people he and his friends (if you could call them that) picked on everyday. But only almost. He was a Malfoy after all, and like his father had brought him up- Malfoys never show thier emotions. And Draco was a true Malfoy through and through, starting from his personality and ending with his good looks.   
  
But lately....he was....he was...  
  
'God,' he thought kicking a pebble into the lake, 'I don't even know what's wrong with me.' Looking at the castle, Draco noticed people in the Great Hall. 'Must be time for breakfast'. With that, he headed to the school, trying to brush all the confusing thoughts out of his brain.  
  
.::*::. .::*::. .::*::.  
  
"Draco wait for me!!" Pansy called as she tried to catch up to him as he headed to Potions. Purposely Draco walked faster, but nonetheless, she caught up.   
  
"I told you to wait for me!" she said, apperently annoyed. She brushed her frizzy brown hair away from her face and gave Draco a 'look'.  
  
"You did? I must have not heard you." Draco kept his eyes away from her, hoping she'd get the hint and leave him alone.  
  
"Draco Lucius Malfoy, you heard me perfectly, and you know it." she said in her whiny voice. She stared at Draco, waiting for a reply.  
  
Draco was silent. They walked a few steps in silence and then Pansy spoke again.  
  
"What's the matter with you?!" she demanded, her puggish nose turning red, a suretell sign that she was getting angry.   
  
Draco was still silent, but now he walked faster.  
  
"Fine be that way!"   
  
Still no reaction. They walked a few feet in silence and then Pansy exploded in rage.  
  
"WHAT THE FUCK IS WRONG WITH YOU?!" she practically screamed. A group of Ravenclaw girls who were standing nearby turned around, obviously interested. They looked at eachother, secretive smiles of pleasure appeared on their faces at the prospect of seeing Draco Malfoy's girlfriend close to tears.  
  
"Pansy, I'd appreciate it if you didn't make a scene in front of these lovely ladies." Draco gestured at the Ravenclaws politely and flashed them a smile. In return, they waved and in unison said "Hiiii Draaaaco!" flirtasiously. He turned back to Pansy, waiting for the jealous rage that he expected to be shot at him.   
  
To his surprise Pansy just gave him a look of disgust and walked away.  
  
The Ravenclaw girls giggled and one strode up to Draco. "Hmm, guess that didn't go so well..." she said to Draco. He stared at her. What the hell did she want? The girl tried to smile seductively at him. Draco looked at her in disgust, hoping she would get the hint and leave. The girl was still oblivious to the fact that she was not wanted and continued staring at him, as if in a trance. 'This is getting wierd..' Draco thought and quickly excused himself, saying he had to get to class.  
  
As he walked away he heard the girl tell her friends, "You just wait. In about a week, they'll be history. And if I say so myself, that went quite well, didn't it? He seemed very taken aback by me-" Then one of her friends broke in telling her that she had no chance with him and they began bickering.  
  
Draco smirked as he remembered something his dad used to say jokingly: "All this trouble because of little old me?" He walked lazily to Potions, not caring if he was going to be late- Snape would never do anything to his favorite student. He walked down the cold dungeon steps, into the cold classroom, and made it just in time for the bell to ring.  
  
"Quiet down everyone," Snape said. " I have noticed a small amount of progress in many of your grades and I have come to a conclusion."  
  
Draco heard Harry scoff and mumble,"Might that conclusion be that you are a great ugly prick?".  
  
Snape either didn't hear him or ignored his comment and went on. "And that conclusion is that 2 people can get a better potion than one. Therefore, I will be pairing you all up with someone"-the whole class graoned, but Snape talked over them-"although, against my better judgement, I have also decided to let you have the luxury of picking your own partners for the second term." The class seemed more agreeable with this decision.  
  
"Alright then, with that out of the way, gather your things and prepare to move next to your partner. Crabbe and Parkinson over at these desks, Brown and Potter at these over here, Weasley and Patil next to them...."  
  
After that Draco tuned out, at least he wouldn't have to be paired up with Pansy. A few moments later Snape waved his wand and the truth potion they were supposed to be making appeared on the board. Draco looked around. Everyone was with their partners except for him. Where was his partner? Was he supposed to work by himself or something?  
  
"Would you move your stuff? I need some room too, you know!" Allie appeared by the desk.   
  
"Oh. You damn American again, huh?" Draco replied, lazily moving his folders, books, and notebooks over to the other side of the desk one by one.  
  
"Cut the crap, Malfoy. I don't want to spend more time than I have to with you, so you might as well deal with it." she said angrily. "Now, go get the ingredients, while I set everything up."  
  
Draco was shocked. HE was the one who gave the directions! This isn't right! He looked at Allie again.  
  
"What?" she said in an annoyed way. "If you don't get the ingredients right now, we'll be behind the rest of the class tomorrow." Still he did nothing.  
  
"WOULD YOU GO ALREADY?!"  
  
Draco groaned and finally got up. "Well SOMEONE got up on the wrong side of the bed this morning!" he grumbled. Ten minutes later he returned with everything balanced on a tray.  
  
"Took you long enough...." Allie murmured as she began stirring essence of asprila and a few spoons of crushed spider powder together.  
  
Draco ignored her and took the beetle eyes and started mashing them.   
  
"No, you don't do it like that! You're crushing them wrong!" Allie cried a few seconds later.  
  
"Damnit, there is only ONE way to crush something, so how could I be doing it the WRONG way?" Draco snapped back at her.  
  
Allie gave him a hateful glare. "When you push the mallet like that, you make them ooze too much, if you do it like this," she took the crushing mallet from him,"they won't ooze as much...do you see now?"  
  
"I was doing it exactly like that!"  
  
"No, you weren't."  
  
"Yes, I was!"  
  
"That's what YOU think."  
  
"And I think right!"  
  
"Draco, shut up and crush the beetle eyes like I told you to."  
  
Draco smiled teasingly. "No."  
  
Allie looked up from her stirring, into his steel grey eyes. "What do you mean, 'no'?"  
  
"I mean no."   
  
"I suggest you start meaning 'yes'."  
  
"But I don't. I mean 'no'."  
  
Allie rolled her eyes and sighed heavily, returning to her stirring. The potion was turning blue. It had to turn purple before they could do anything else with it, so she had plenty of time to make him agree with her. After a few quiet minutes of Allie stirring and Draco doing nothing but watching her stir, Allie broke the silence.  
  
"Are you going to be this difficult all semester?"  
  
He gave her what most girls would consider a dazzling smile and replied,"As long as you keep being bitchy."  
  
"I am NOT bitchy."   
  
Draco snickered at that and began crushing his beetle eyes again.  
  
"What?" she asked, pleased that she got him to do his work.  
  
"Nothing."  
  
"Yes, there's something! You wouldn't laugh for no reason. And I am not bitchy!"  
  
"How would you know my laughing habits? You haven't known me long enough. And yes you are."  
  
Allie's eyes widened. Was he trying to flirt? Well...he was pretty hot, but that attitude...? Two can play that game....  
  
"Oh? Really? How would YOU know? You haven't known me long enough either."  
  
"I know what I need to know." he replied mischeviously, adding the beetle eyes to the now purple mixture. Instantly it started turning lavender.  
  
Allie narrowed her eyes. "What do you mean by that?"  
  
"Nothing. Nothing at all."  
  
"Whatever, you're really starting to piss me off, ya know that?"  
  
"That's what I'm here for! Nice to know I'm doing my job!"  
  
Allie couldn't help but smile. She turned away hiding it, but he noticed. They both sat down, waiting for the potion to turn pearly, which could take another 15 minutes.  
  
"You know, you aren't as bad as long as your girlfriend isn't around." Allie said after a moment of silence.  
  
"She's not my girlfriend."  
  
"Oh."  
  
There was a pause, then Draco spoke, "I know she acts like it but I don't like her like that."  
  
"Oh." Allie never expected to get as far as having this conversation with him. "So are you going to break up with her?"  
  
"That's a good question, Arden."  
  
"So what, you're like, using her or something?"  
  
"Another good question." He looked at her, to see her reaction. Allie's mouth was in a perfect 'o' shape.  
  
"Malfoy, that is so wrong. I don't like her much but that's just wrong."  
  
"What? I never said I DID!"  
  
"You implied it!"  
  
"No I DIDN'T."  
  
"Well, it sure sounded like it!"  
  
Suddenly, Draco turned around and gave her a glare much like the one he gave her a month ago on the Hogwarts Express. "Would you just leave me alone? This is NONE of your business, and I don't even know why you are asking me about my personal life."  
  
"I wasn't asking you about your persomal life you just started tel-" Allie began but he never let her finish.  
  
"OK, just drop it? You stupid Americans....always think that you know better than anyone else. Well, I've got news for you, YOU DON'T!" With that he turned back to the potion and began mixing the rest of the ingredients into the couldron.  
  
.:*:. .:*:. .:*:.  
  
I was surprised by Draco's sudden outbreak. I thought everything was going pretty well. Obviously, I thought wrong. Either way, we somehow finished our potion, which turned out to be one of the best in the class, unlike our partnership. When the last bell had rung, I joined Harry, Ron, and Hermione in the walk back to the Gryffindor Tower.  
  
"How did it go?" Harry asked grimly. "I hope he wasn't too much of an idiot, or he'll have to pay."  
  
I smiled, touched at his kindness. "No, he was alright. Well, he was alright until the end when we got into talking about his ugly girlfriend."  
  
Ron laughed, "THAT'S an understatement! Ugly doesn't even begin to describe it, Allie."  
  
Hermione just roller her eyes, and turned to me."They love poking fun at her. Come to think of it I do too but there's always a limit." We quickened our pace to get ahead of the guys so we could discuss Draco further.  
  
I laughed, "Yeah, I know."   
  
"You HAVE to tell me everything he said to you."  
  
"Oh it wasn't much." I said, feeling my cheeks blush.  
  
Hermione raised an eyebrow. "Really?"  
  
"Yes....I think so...?"  
  
She laughed and gave me a pitying look, "Sorry to tell you this, but don't get too attactched. He's not who you think he is. He'll never change. Once a Malfoy always a Malfoy, and a single person can't change him into being someone he wasn't brought up to be."  
  
"I never thought of doing that!" I tried to laugh it off, even though in the past hour of Potions I had a few thoughts on that topic. "And anyway, I can't stand him. Did you see how he just exploded at me for no reason?"  
  
Hermione nodded. "All I can say is poor you."  
  
I smiled wryly,"Thanks alot."  
  
She laughed, "Anytime!"  
  
___________________________________________________  
  
Yes I know, very short. but at least there was some action! lol k, please review people! and sorry for taking such a long time to update. I hope to get Chapter 6 up sometime in the next few weeks, since I will probably have more free time. till then! kiss kiss hug hug :-) 


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